Long-tailed Tit for Alexander

I was very lucky to be invited by Alexander (he said I invited myself :)), to share a day with him in a hut in the Netherlands. It was a five hours drive from my home and it was great! We had best weather, cold and sunny and very cooperative birds. It was the first time for me to make pleasing images of the long-tailed Tit (it did not come on Sunday, Alexander...), the beautiful Crested Tit (images with follow...) and the European Jay.

Thanks a lot, Alexander and Erwin van Laar, who spent the second day with me. It was really great and I love to meet nice people like you!

Ok, this image:
I think the Tit is a bit too centered, but I did not want to loose the red berries by cropping; would you?
Head angle could be a bit better, but colours, BG and Details work for me.
What do you think?

Mark III
500mm + 1.7 TC
1/250 sec / f 6.3 / ISO 800

All comments very welcome.
Thanks for looking at the image :)

Yes it is a bit centered but I would keep that beautifull red berries. If you have more room at the top and at the bottom you could try a vertical cropping of the LT tit and the red berries at the left. I do not mind about the OOF tail and I like the bird´s pose instead of the fact that you do not have a neat eye contact but is nice having the bird looking to something outside the frame. The levels could be adjusted to add more life to the scene because the white areas of the LLT are a bit dark to my taste. Very good job and can´t wait to see more images.

Hi Juan,
thank you for your comments; I followed your advice and adjusted the levels and made a new upload of the image. Better now?
The image is full frame, so I am sorry, but there is no space for a vertical cropping.

Hi Rosl, I see no repost so I assume that you reworked the image in the original post. Isn´t it? It looks to me much better now in terms of levels adjustment and the birds seems more live. Well done

Hi Juan,
yes, I replaced the original image. Thanks for the given advice; I totally agree, that it looks much better!

Just wish for a little better eye contact. Otherwise a wonderful image as is. The berries just add to it.

The otherwise centered comp is fine with the berries at right balancing it out. I also wish for a better head angle. The frost on the branches is a terrific touch, and you have yourself a beauty of a BG.

P.S. Sometimes a small tweak makes a huge difference...and in that regard it would have been nice if people could have seen the difference by keeping the original there ;-)

Very nice, Rosl. Lovely light and sharpness. Frosted berries are a bonus. I think this could also work as a squarish crop eliminating the sharp berries on the right and keeping some of the OOF ones. For future reference, it would be better to add the revised image as a repost, otherwise the earlier comments make no sense for later visitors. Looking forward to other images from your trip.

Hi Rosl super image I leike athe colours and the berries. It is a little central - how about adding canvas?

Jon

I love you to Rosl:) it was fun, it was nice and worth dooing it again. This tit is beautiful and i love de red berries around it and the wonderfullBG.

I like the perch, but I know you have defenitely better ones from your trip to Alexander.

The birds in NL are always worth a visit.
Something is different here in NL with the birds, compared to my experience in Germany.
Who knows what the secret for that is.:D

Sebastian

It looks wonderful Rosl. :) If you could perhaps shoot without the converter next time, you could leave a little more space and crop to taste. It's probably common to try and squeeze every bit of bird into the frame. I know I probably would too if I were there! :)

Thanks to all of your for your gentle critique. Next time, I change something after posting an image, I will keep the Original and repost the new one.
Sebastian, you know that from the D-Forum, right? I will show some of those images here, day after day.... Thanks for looking at the images!

So cute! Love the comp, perch, BG, light, and mood on this one. Congratulaitons!

Thank you for all the comments.
I tried another crop. How do you like that version?
Do you think, that it is better balanced?